Conference Proceedings

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte is one of the fastest growing institutions in the 17-campus UNC System. In recent years as academic buildings and a research campus have been added to the building inventory, the University has also continued to build student support buildings including apartment and suite-style student housing, a Greek village, and a new student union. Join us as campus leaders present the master plan and the individual building initiatives that are driving the success of this major campus in the largest metropolitan area of the Carolinas.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Understand how a dynamic master plan and institutional leadership couple to enhance the quality of student life on a growing public university campus.
2. Discover how a new student union can provide the link between student housing and the academic core of the campus.
3. Realize the impact new student housing has on student attraction, retention and performance.
4. Find out how the addition of a research campus and a new football program will further add to the prominence of this institution in the region.

Faced with an aging housing stock, antiquated and disjointed student support facilities and services, and a campus economic environment in which new student fees are unacceptable, Clemson University and consultants Brailsford & Dunlavey developed a master plan to evaluate and develop market-responsive project options that address the many needs of the Division of Student Affairs.   Triggered by a self-funded $123.5M redevelopment including amenity-rich student housing, dining, and retail, the institution is able to stage a series of improvements to student facilities that retain and increase revenues and create new opportunities to redefine student life spaces in a fashion that complements the unique environment of the Clemson University campus.  Through consolidation of departments and programs, repurposing of under-utilized space, expansion of existing facilities, and selective construction of new space, this master plan prescribes a balanced approach towards reenergizing student life at Clemson University.  

Learning Outcomes:

1. Understand how a comprehensive Student Affairs and Housing Master Plan laid the groundwork for a new gateway housing, dining, and retail project that will transform the campus.
2. See how a unique mixture of graduate, upper classmen, and pre-freshman “Bridge” students will share a complex and create new synergy for the campus.
3. Find new ways to finance major capital projects in uncertain economic times.
4. Discover new planning principles and design goals that will help support this institution’s goal of becoming a top 20 university.

In 2000, North Carolina voters passed the largest bond referendum in U. S. history for higher education.  Using those funds and additional bond authorizations approved by the NC Legislature in 2004, 2007 and 2008, the UNC System and its constituent campuses have invested over $4 billion in university buildings and infrastructure during the past decade.   As the bond spending was nearing completion, the state entered a period of recession, reflecting the financial situation around the globe, that dramatically impacted capital financing for public projects.  As a result, many institutions have looked for alternative methods to finance projects and re-focused their attention to self-liquidating projects, ones whose revenue streams could pay for their bond indebtedness.  Some of these have been public bond issues, others have been privatized through foundations or other private non-profit entities, and others were finance through private developers.  This session will provide an overview of financing options that have been used successfully and will also look at current and future trends.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Explore the differences between public and private financing and the reasons why each is chosen by a particular institution.
2. Recognize the opportunities and constraints surrounding each method of financing.
3. Discover how availability of low-interest tax-exempt financing and low construction costs can offer advantages for self-liquidating projects.
4. Define ways to determine which method is best for your campus and under what circumstances.  

Private institutions across the Carolinas have a varied but unique place in higher education.  Whether small or large, undergraduate or graduate, single sex or co-educational, each of them faces a unique challenge – attracting a student base that fits each institution’s unique profile in a market that continues to face fiscal and operational challenges with very little subsidy from the states in which they reside.  The four institutions represented on this panel include a small women’s college, a unique working/service college, a co-ed liberal arts college, and a major private research university, and their moderator represents a major comprehensive university in Charlotte. Join us as we look at how student affairs renewal has allowed each of these institutions to remain competitive and thrive during challenging economic times.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Learn about the unique challenges facing a private women's college and the things they are doing to meet those challenges.
2. Find out about how a small co-educational college whose early leadership in sustainability and its commitment to experiential learning have helped it attract students worldwide.
3. Discover how a relatively new campus built in the 1960's is revitalizing itself through its commitment to revitalizing student facilities.
4. Learn how a major private research university overcomes economic pressures by revitalizing its student affairs infrastructure.

In the public university realm, higher education institutions across the Carolinas are confronted with the need to balance continuing demand for improvements to “quality of life” campus facilities with significant reductions in public capital projects funding.  The continuing facility demand includes building new, expanding, or renovating residential, dining, recreational and athletic facilities in support of broader campus goals of achieving a competitive edge in attracting the best and brightest students.  The complexity of responding to “quality of life” campus facility demand is further complicated by balancing their intrinsic revenue generation possibilities against local market forces, broader political realities, and each institution’s unique strategic goals.  Join us as this panel of leaders from major public universities share the range of ways they are each, within this dynamic new climate for capital projects, funding, designing, and building new facility improvements to continue to make their campuses dynamic and exciting places to live, learn, and play.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Learn how public institutions are balancing  continuing demand for improvements to “quality of life” campus facilities with significant reductions in public capital projects funding.
2. Understand how facility demand includes building new, expanding, or renovating residential, dining, recreational and athletic facilities.
3. Discover how facilities support of broader campus goals of achieving a competitive edge in attracting the best and brightest students. 
4. Find out how facility demand is further complicated by balancing intrinsic revenue generation possibilities against local market forces, broader political realities, and each institution’s unique strategic goals.